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Those guy make lifting weights sound like it's climbing mount Everest or something. STFU it's just lifting weights everybody does it
Mike Israetel - sage or egomaniac??
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Those guy make lifting weights sound like it's climbing mount Everest or something. STFU it's just lifting weights everybody does it
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Watching him very occassionaly lately. Very cool dude. Pretty much only guy I consistently watch a full video on training and sports the last months. Good sense of humor and vocabulary. Aproved.
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Watch World’s Strongest Man Martins Licis Win ADCC Open - Jitsmagazine.com
Former World’s Strongest Man Martins Licis just won a gold medal at the ADCC San Diego Open 2025 on January 18th, 2025.jitsmagazine.com
Licis is an outlier. He is one of the more mobile strongmen. He also wrestled in high school. There is some footage of him grappling. He gooned his opponents. They were all novice but so was he.
He's also WAY smaller (height-wise and weight-wise) than a Shaw or Thor. The latter two would be even scarier to step on a mat against, as competition is very different than friendly rolling for social media content. When Martins was going for whatever arm drag-looking technique that was in the second vid I was legit scared for the other guy that his arm was going to get broken. Forget about actually getting my limbs wrenched by someone who was once literally the World's Strongest Man
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Yea it’s crazy how he is “small” guy in that sport even though he is 350 lbs.He's also WAY smaller (height-wise and weight-wise) than a Shaw or Thor. The latter two would be even scarier to step on a mat against, as competition is very different than friendly rolling for social media content. When Martins was going for whatever arm drag-looking technique that was in the second vid I was legit scared for the other guy that his arm was going to get broken. Forget about actually getting my limbs wrenched by someone who was once literally the World's Strongest Man
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Yep. IIRC, at their biggest Eddie Hall was 440, Shaw was 450, and Thor was 460. There's a reason that Gordon Ryan said in that vid with Martins and Thor that it should be illegal to teach those guys BJJ. They can fucking win comps with what we can charitably call rudimentary skills. With actual skills...
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I remember there was an absolutely massive former oil rigger that used to train with a friend of mine. The guys just didn't know his own strength. They ended up making him duct tape his Andre the Giant hands into fists when he rolled because he kept crushing everyone's shit when he grabbed them.
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He's also WAY smaller (height-wise and weight-wise) than a Shaw or Thor. The latter two would be even scarier to step on a mat against, as competition is very different than friendly rolling for social media content. When Martins was going for whatever arm drag-looking technique that was in the second vid I was legit scared for the other guy that his arm was going to get broken. Forget about actually getting my limbs wrenched by someone who was once literally the World's Strongest Man
Knee on belly from Shaw or Thor and your entire rib cage gets caved in
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Yep. IIRC, at their biggest Eddie Hall was 440, Shaw was 450, and Thor was 460. There's a reason that Gordon Ryan said in that vid with Martins and Thor that it should be illegal to teach those guys BJJ. They can fucking win comps with what we can charitably call rudimentary skills. With actual skills...
And Gordon Ryan is a strong MF, at least by Human standards.
The thing is, if Shaw, Thor etc were training BJJ seriously, they wouldn't be able to hit the weights as hard as they did when competing in Strongman. But they could sacrifice some brute strength and power for skill, and still be an order of magnitude stronger than 99% of anyone they fought.
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A grappler with the size and strength of Hafthor and the movement and skills of Ryan would be awesome but like you say, I don't think that's remotely possible. Top ultra heavy grapplers are already juiced to the gills and if more size and strength was the answer, they'd already be doing it.
We've seen this before with folks thinking "A level athletes" like NFL players, Olympic medalists, etc. can come in and steamroll elite grapplers/MMA fighters and it doesn't hold water. They're different sports with different skills and attributes.
While IMO the theoretically ideal grappler at absolute would be around 300 lbs, I don't think you can get much bigger than that without cannibalizing cardio and mobility to their detriment. Off the top of my head, the biggest elite grappler we've seen is Ricardo Morais who took silver at ADCC 1998 absolute and fought MMA in Pride and other promotions. He looked like Blanka from Street Fighter II and was 6' 8" 278 lbs.
But I would have loved to have seen what 2002 Bob Sapp at 6' 5" 350 lbs could have done had his style been BJJ and not "NFL" lol.
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I think a lot of it comes down to how he presents himself. He presents himself as the voice of hard-won common sense that's "cutting through b.s." Nobody gets away with more b.s. that then people that effectively present themselves as the one cutting through it.
I guess I necro'd this comment, but hey, I was just got recommended him by Youtube after constantly telling them not to, so its relevant to me.
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Coleman's win over him was one of the coolest Coleman performances I saw. Morais always seemed like a class act though. And he was definitely compelling to watch.A grappler with the size and strength of Hafthor and the movement and skills of Ryan would be awesome but like you say, I don't think that's remotely possible. Top ultra heavy grapplers are already juiced to the gills and if more size and strength was the answer, they'd already be doing it.
We've seen this before with folks thinking "A level athletes" like NFL players, Olympic medalists, etc. can come in and steamroll elite grapplers/MMA fighters and it doesn't hold water. They're different sports with different skills and attributes.
While IMO the theoretically ideal grappler at absolute would be around 300 lbs, I don't think you can get much bigger than that without cannibalizing cardio and mobility to their detriment. Off the top of my head, the biggest elite grappler we've seen is Ricardo Morais who took silver at ADCC 1998 absolute and fought MMA in Pride and other promotions. He looked like Blanka from Street Fighter II and was 6' 8" 278 lbs.
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But I would have loved to have seen what 2002 Bob Sapp at 6' 5" 350 lbs could have done had his style been BJJ and not "NFL" lol.
Sapp was interesting, because he did seem to have picked up some grappling. I think the biggest issue, IMO, was the absence of wrestling, like we saw in his fight with Fujita. Sapp was pulling armbars and going for heel-hooks and stuff...but wrestling is just something that, if you don't have it built into you on some level--more like hammered into you--you're going to probably be at a huge deficit. Like, against Fujita, for example, his size meant nothing because Fujita made sure he was never on top of him.
So the point is that...wrestling wins, even in the strength and training forum.
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Mostly, I just can't stand "debunkers" when it comes to the world of working out, except when its debunking something like crossfit that purports to--or used to purport to--stand as a refutation of every other mode of working out ever invented.
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3 hours of critiques
Didn't watch it, ain't nobody got time for that, just some timestamps
1:35 Chapter 1. Introduction4:45 Chapter 2. A critical analysis of Mike’s fitness advice5:05 2.1. Against ‘having striated glutes isn’t unhealthy’12:25 2.2. Against ‘take a month off to see MASSIVE gains’15:30 2.3. Against ‘training 6x/w generates more growth than training 4x/w’18:12 2.4. Against ‘sleep outperforms juice’20:13 2.5. Against ‘the mechanism by which juice works is letting you train harder’25:30 2.6. Against ‘you should probably train more than the pro bodybuilders you follow’29:53 2.7. Against ‘volume beats progressive tension overload’34:38 2.8. Against the RP hypertrophy app, and the instruction to add sets based on pump and/or soreness40:12 2.9. Against ‘you should train more in a deep caloric deficit’46:33 2.10. Against ‘higher volumes let you grow more’54:37 2.11. On Mike’s volume backpedal58:03 2.12. Against the ‘technique cyborg’ meme59:02 2.13. Against ramping up volume over the course of a training cycle1:04:20 2.14. Against ‘if you’re getting stronger week to week, then you’re undertraining’1:06:59 2.15. Taking stock of chapter 21:07:30 Chapter 3. Failure to fail (in the weight room)1:08:36 3.1. A contextualization and explanation of Lyle’s ‘failure to fail’ criticism1:12:56 3.2. A summary and critical analysis of Mike’s rebuttal to Lyle1:14:19 3.2.1. Against ‘I take technical failure very seriously’1:20:01 3.2.2. Against ‘I deliberately slow my reps, so you can‘t gauge my proximity to failure visually’1:24:08 3.2.3. Against ‘I‘m fast twitch dominant, so you can‘t gauge my proximity to failure visually’1:27:08 3.2.4. Against ‘what does this even matter? I‘m still growing muscle just fine’1:35:54 3.2.5. Against ‘I‘m funnier than you, smarter than you’, etc.1:39:54 3.3. On Mike’s recent contradictions to his objections to Lyle1:45:00 3.4. Does Mike meet the same standard he uses to dismiss Lyle?1:45:59 Chapter 4. Failure to succeed (in competitive bodybuilding)1:49:18 4.1. Why Mike is uncoachable1:51:07 4.2. On Mike’s inability to take criticism, and how this trait may have impacted his bodybuilding career1:52:46 4.3. Mike’s first show: what would Lyle have done to coach Mike?1:56:17 4.4. Why Mike should start his diet earlier1:59:04 4.5. Why Mike should stay leaner in the offseason2:00:21 4.6. On Mike’s diuretic protocol, and water retention cope2:01:54 4.7. The reality: Mike never got lean enough2:05:13 4.8. On Mike’s inability to learn from past mistakes2:06:29 4.9. On Mike’s ‘I lost because of my tan’ excuse2:07:35 4.10. Lyle’s thoughts on competing in enhanced bodybuilding for fun2:08:22 4.11. On Mike’s baffling contest diet2:12:55 4.12. What Lyle would change with Mike’s training2:15:11 4.13. What Lyle would change with Mike’s ‘special sports supplements’ stack2:21:17 4.14. Mike should have figured out how to prep as a natural first2:25:20 4.15. On Mike’s genetics: is Mike cut out for the sport of bodybuilding?2:27:11 4.16. Why Lyle’s #1 suggestion to Mike is to downsize2:33:56 4.17. On Mike’s ‘I don’t care for the pageantry aspect of bodybuilding’ cope2:36:16 4.18. Why Mike should retire from competitive bodybuilding for good2:38:54 4.19. Why Lyle thinks Mike won’t retire from bodybuilding for good, even though he clearly should2:48:07 4.20. On Mike’s ‘I compete to illustrate that my methods work’ blunder2:52:19 4.21. Lyle’s thoughts on what Mike ACTUALLY proved as a bodybuilder2:54:50 4.22. What we can learn from Mike’s failures2:55:39 Chapter 5. Conclusion2:58:51 Extras
Didn't watch it, ain't nobody got time for that, just some timestamps
1:35 Chapter 1. Introduction4:45 Chapter 2. A critical analysis of Mike’s fitness advice5:05 2.1. Against ‘having striated glutes isn’t unhealthy’12:25 2.2. Against ‘take a month off to see MASSIVE gains’15:30 2.3. Against ‘training 6x/w generates more growth than training 4x/w’18:12 2.4. Against ‘sleep outperforms juice’20:13 2.5. Against ‘the mechanism by which juice works is letting you train harder’25:30 2.6. Against ‘you should probably train more than the pro bodybuilders you follow’29:53 2.7. Against ‘volume beats progressive tension overload’34:38 2.8. Against the RP hypertrophy app, and the instruction to add sets based on pump and/or soreness40:12 2.9. Against ‘you should train more in a deep caloric deficit’46:33 2.10. Against ‘higher volumes let you grow more’54:37 2.11. On Mike’s volume backpedal58:03 2.12. Against the ‘technique cyborg’ meme59:02 2.13. Against ramping up volume over the course of a training cycle1:04:20 2.14. Against ‘if you’re getting stronger week to week, then you’re undertraining’1:06:59 2.15. Taking stock of chapter 21:07:30 Chapter 3. Failure to fail (in the weight room)1:08:36 3.1. A contextualization and explanation of Lyle’s ‘failure to fail’ criticism1:12:56 3.2. A summary and critical analysis of Mike’s rebuttal to Lyle1:14:19 3.2.1. Against ‘I take technical failure very seriously’1:20:01 3.2.2. Against ‘I deliberately slow my reps, so you can‘t gauge my proximity to failure visually’1:24:08 3.2.3. Against ‘I‘m fast twitch dominant, so you can‘t gauge my proximity to failure visually’1:27:08 3.2.4. Against ‘what does this even matter? I‘m still growing muscle just fine’1:35:54 3.2.5. Against ‘I‘m funnier than you, smarter than you’, etc.1:39:54 3.3. On Mike’s recent contradictions to his objections to Lyle1:45:00 3.4. Does Mike meet the same standard he uses to dismiss Lyle?1:45:59 Chapter 4. Failure to succeed (in competitive bodybuilding)1:49:18 4.1. Why Mike is uncoachable1:51:07 4.2. On Mike’s inability to take criticism, and how this trait may have impacted his bodybuilding career1:52:46 4.3. Mike’s first show: what would Lyle have done to coach Mike?1:56:17 4.4. Why Mike should start his diet earlier1:59:04 4.5. Why Mike should stay leaner in the offseason2:00:21 4.6. On Mike’s diuretic protocol, and water retention cope2:01:54 4.7. The reality: Mike never got lean enough2:05:13 4.8. On Mike’s inability to learn from past mistakes2:06:29 4.9. On Mike’s ‘I lost because of my tan’ excuse2:07:35 4.10. Lyle’s thoughts on competing in enhanced bodybuilding for fun2:08:22 4.11. On Mike’s baffling contest diet2:12:55 4.12. What Lyle would change with Mike’s training2:15:11 4.13. What Lyle would change with Mike’s ‘special sports supplements’ stack2:21:17 4.14. Mike should have figured out how to prep as a natural first2:25:20 4.15. On Mike’s genetics: is Mike cut out for the sport of bodybuilding?2:27:11 4.16. Why Lyle’s #1 suggestion to Mike is to downsize2:33:56 4.17. On Mike’s ‘I don’t care for the pageantry aspect of bodybuilding’ cope2:36:16 4.18. Why Mike should retire from competitive bodybuilding for good2:38:54 4.19. Why Lyle thinks Mike won’t retire from bodybuilding for good, even though he clearly should2:48:07 4.20. On Mike’s ‘I compete to illustrate that my methods work’ blunder2:52:19 4.21. Lyle’s thoughts on what Mike ACTUALLY proved as a bodybuilder2:54:50 4.22. What we can learn from Mike’s failures2:55:39 Chapter 5. Conclusion2:58:51 Extras
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TBF Fujita was a high level wrestler - Japan Olympic alternate and a handful of respectable showings at the national and international level. Good luck outwrestling that dude without a high level wrestling background, especially when that dude is in possession of the blunt object known as Fujita's skull...
Kazuyuki "Iron Head" Fujita made a fighting career out of having a thick skull. This is that skull's story. Like many mixed martial artists, Fujita started as a wrestler. Unlike many mixed martial artists, he never learned a second skill. It would take him 60 minutes to describe to you what he thinks a kick is, and he attempts submission holds the same way he tries on hats-- confusedly pulling in random directions with no results. That's because his skull is measurably thicker than a normal skull. If you were to take an x-ray of it, you'd fire your medical equipment for coming in to work drunk. He was created by filling a cement truck with coconut sperm, and no one was more surprised than that cement truck. Since he was diagnosed with this head, he has been searching for the man who would one day destroy it. I understand many readers don't follow or relate to the sport of mixed martial arts, but those readers are in luck because I speak fluent Nerd. Each section will have a Nerdsplanation to help everyone enjoy this skull's terrible and ridiculous journey.
Worst Life Ever: The Story of Kazuyuki Fujita's Skull
He was created by filling a cement truck with coconut sperm, and no one was more surprised than that cement truck.
www.cracked.com
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Lyle is an asshole but most of the criticisms are valid.
